This invention relates to digital ratemeters indicating rate as the reciprocal of the period.
Ratemeters which measure an interval between first and second event pulses and then perform a division calculation between second and third event pulses are known. These ratemeters suffer the disadvantage of only being able to measure every other period because the remaining alternate intervals are required to perform the calculation, i.e. every other period is skipped to allow performance of the division. Response time is slow and the number of significant digits in the displayed rate is limited. Applications require moderate speed of input events because resolution is not maintained at low rates.
Other ratemeters are known which count clock pulses and event pulses over a predetermined fixed interval, and calculate the quotient thereof. These types do not provide rapid response when the rate of event inputs is slow without producing a large inaccuracy. Applications require even greater speed of input events than the above ratemeters to maintain resolution.
While these prior ratemeters have been useful for their intended purposes, the present invention relates to improvements thereover.